Open innovation in the new context of proof of concepts: evidence from Italy

Purpose The paper aims to advance knowledge by investigating the main factors that impact on innovation through the co-development process between researchers and firms at the very early stage of proof of concept. Design/methodology/approach The authors developed an empirical analysis on the proof of concept network project, through a mixed empirical analysis. They explored the main factors that affect the enactment of the co-development process and tested the impact of such factors on the probability for partners to enact a co-development project and generate innovation. Findings From the quantitative analysis comes out that the trust of the research team into the potentiality of the technology, the commitment of researchers concerning the scalability of technology and the IP value issued by external experts have a positive impact on the probability to create a match among partners and generate innovation. Research limitations/implications Even if all the population of technologies (108) considered in the project implementation are analyzed, the development of the empirical analysis on a specific project within a single country represents a limitation. Future analysis will concentrate on a larger panel of proof of concept experience across Europe. Practical implications The success of a co-development process between researchers and companies at the embryonic phase of the technology considers the opportunity to exploit the technologies into real products for the market. Originality/value This is an empirical analysis of the first Italian proof of concept implementation that deeply investigates which critical factors can enable innovation by enacting a co-development process between researchers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).